Raiders coach Ricky Stuart has revealed details of the club's mission to re-sign their Swiss Army Knife recruit, Adam Elliott.
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Elliott has proven to be a positive addition since arriving in Canberra on a one-year deal following an ugly exit from the Bulldogs, especially in recent weeks taking on the role of starting hooker.
His rotation with Tom Starling has been a masterstroke of Stuart's, bringing out the best in both players in a pivotal position that was rocked by Josh Hodgson's season-ending injury in round one.
"He doesn't just fill in, he does a good job there," Stuart said of the former Bulldog ahead of their NRL Magic Round clash in Brisbane on Sunday with the Cronulla Sharks.
"It's difficult for a backrower to go into nine, but it shows his utility value in being able to sustain some time there. He's doing a really good job for us in these difficult times."
The coach suggested he's on board with re-signing Elliott to remain in the capital, as talks between the 27-year-old's management and the club continue behind the scenes.
"Adam knows where I stand with him in regards to the long-term," Stuart said.
"Yes, I want to keep here, and talks with [NRL Recruitment and Pathways Manager] Kelly Egan and [Elliott's manager] David Riolo are all very healthy at the moment, so I'm very confident that will be the case.
"It's just a matter of tying up a few bits and pieces to their communications of the deal."
Stuart was also glowing in his review of Elliott beyond the footy field.
"I never had any hesitation in the personality of who we're talking about in Adam in regards to fitting into the squad," he said.
"He's from our region, he's a bit of a country boy at heart. He's a knockabout and he's got a wonderful relationship with Millie [Boyle], who is the daughter of our ex-Raider David Boyle. So it's a nice fit."
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Elliott had a slow start to the year coming off the bench for the first six rounds of the season. His minutes on the park were as low as 16 and at most around 50, limiting his impact. He averaged 54 total running metres and 22 post-contact metres, with just two tackle breaks and one offload during that time.
In round seven he played at lock but since round eight in the No. 9 jersey, Elliott's stats have been impressive. In two weeks he's played over 60 minutes in each game, and he's totalled 263 running metres and 109 post-contact metres, with four offloads and three tackle breaks.
"At the start of the season with Adam it was a process finding where he was going to fit best," Stuart said.
The work they had done in the off-season with Elliott at hooker gave the coach "that little bit of confidence knowing that he could do it", and the move has worked.
Though Starling lost his starter's job in the re-shuffle, Stuart insists it will help protect the pocket rocket 23-year-old.
"It's a huge workload on one hooker and Tommy Starling gets targeted a lot," Stuart said.
"He's up around 50 to 60 tackles per game. I'm trying to look after Tommy, and [Adam is] a bigger body, so he handles that confrontation early in the game well. But he's also got a good, clean pass out of dummy-half, he's created a few metres for us, and there's no weak link in our defence.
"So he's been a great addition there, especially for the first 15 to 25 minutes, then Tommy comes on and plays his normal game."
While the Raiders' injury and suspension woes has forced Stuart into some tough, and frequent tweaking of the one-to-17 this season, the coach has welcomed the growing competition within the squad, with Elliott a fine example.
"Adam Elliot is definitely pushing for a spot in the starting pack, whether it's at nine, 13, or on the edge, and that's what I want," he said.
"I want people to fight for spots. We haven't got enough of that at the moment in certain positions, and I've always said as a coach I love having people fight and compete for positions."
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